Israel should join CWC like Syria: Iranian envoy

Scores of people, mostly civilians, were rushed to hospitals in Aleppo following the terrorist chemical attack on March 19, 2013.

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Iran’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) welcomes Syria’s signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and says the Israeli regime should follow suit.
“We expect Syria’s decision to set an example for non-members particularly the Zionist regime [of Israel] to immediately join the Convention without any preconditions and implement it,” Kazem Gharibabadi said at a meeting of the Executive Council of the OPCW.
Gharibabadi, who is also Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands, said Israel’s weapons of mass destruction are a source of deep concern for regional countries the and the world, stressing that it is essential for the regime to join the CWC as well as other disarmament treaties aimed at establishing peace in the region.
“With Syria’s signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Zionist regime has no more excuses for the stockpiling and proliferation of its weapons of mass destruction,” he stressed.
Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari said on September 12 that his country became a full member of the international treaty prohibiting the use of chemical weapons.
On the same day, the United Nations also confirmed that it has received documents from Syria on joining the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Iranian envoy also expressed hope that the agreement reached earlier this month in Geneva on a framework on the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons by the middle of 2014 would guarantee the restoration of peace in the Arab country through abolishing the idea of the military option and starting political negotiations.
Syria has already supplied a list of its chemical weapons and facilities and is due to provide further details by October 4.
Meanwhile, a 20-member OPCW team of inspectors are scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, where they will begin the elimination procedure.
AR/HGH